Author's Note
This is going to be a bit different than the last one, hopefully for the better. This part of the story starts the Nightmare Arc.
As always let me know what you think in the comments and let me know what parts of the story could be improved and what parts you liked. Feel free to critique at your leisure.
Also the elements are going to be a bit different this time around just a heads up.
Ch1: Night Fall
Nurse bright heart was sitting at her desk idly looking over some trashy fashion magazine and the mares they depicted, tsking to herself as she noted more than one that was on their way to an early grave. It was morbid but it was better than staring at the wall for the rest of her shift, or actually reading the inane drivel contained within the articles. Maybe she should bring in a book next time she idly thought before her musings were interrupted as a white flash lit up the room spewing a panting stallion and a heavily pregnant mare onto the floor.
“B...baby, foal! Need doctor!” The stallion gasped trying to catch their breath while lying on the floor.
The nurse didn't pay him much mind as she sent off a quick emergency notice to the doctors that were available. The mare was then quickly carted away to the nearest room for the birthing to take place. As she looked over the stallion in question she recognized him immediately from the last time he was here and teleported in. It seems he just never learned and the nurse wasn't about to let him just relax while she had time to chew him out a bit.
“Mr. Nightlight need I remind you how dangerous teleporting while pregnant is, let alone others on top of it.”
“I... I was panicking Mrs. and I wasn't thinking.”
“Of course you weren't thinking, just hope you didn't neuter or do worse to the foal, they're highly susceptible to extraplanar energy and anything could have happened to them. Now if you'll excuse me I have other patients to take care of and please if you find yourself needing to get here in case of birthing, call a taxi or something.”
Nightlight dumbly nodded at the nurse as they left the results of his previous teleportation incident playing with her two front talons. While Nightlight wouldn't give up Gleaming Shield for the world he had to admit he never expected to take care of a gryphoness. Said gryphoness was busy playing some sort of game that involved wedging their talons together and making shapes to which they laughed at, maybe Nightlight should get another name ready for their foal just in case... Twilight sounded nice, and it might just get his wife to not kill him this time around.
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Nightlight stood there just staring at his wife as if she had grown another head, and she very well may have since he was seriously doubting that he heard her right.
“Dear, did you just say you wanted us to have Dusk pretend to be a mare for his entrance exam into Celestia's school for gifted unicorns?”
“I know it sounds absurd dear, but what other chance of getting into that school does he have? Mares and fillies make up ninety percent of the school board and students, I just want them to get a good education.”
“It's Celestia's school dear, don't you think the bias towards mares will have less of an impact?”
“Listen dear, I would like to think Celestia would give all her ponies equal opportunities to succeed but that isn't the case, it took you three years and your mother threatening to sue the school six different times to get you in, and it took getting a corporation in on it to get them to listen.”
“I just don't want him getting stuck in a position he can't get out of, you know the laws against fake identities, if he gets caught we're all in big trouble. If Celestia gets word of it... it could be considered treason since it's her school.”
“I know dear, that's why I've been planning this for a while, I'll take care of everything and I'm entitled to at least one catastrophic failure of a plan after you gave us Gleaming. Not that she's a failure or anything, it's just that you're an idiot who likes to subject unborn foals to forces that exist outside of our reality.”
“I get it dear, the nurse gave me enough of a tongue lashing for it when I came in the second time, do you really need to bring this up?”
“Hey, a little bit of teasing doesn't hurt dear, and I already forgave you after seeing how adorable Gleaming was...Now go outside and play with our son for a bit, he needs to see you more than he currently does and he needs a stallion in his life to relate to, he's already starting to complain about the mare centric decor the world employs.”
Nightlight didn't stick around much longer, preferring to do as his wife suggested and go outside to his son. The bookish unicorn didn't exactly like playing outside all that much but Twilight insisted on them having an actual childhood, and Nightlight couldn't fault her too much for that. Gleaming was already outside clutching a wooden sword in one of her talons and swinging it around while Dusk deftly avoided his attacker. This was a favorite way for Gleaming to play, especially since using her claws was a one way ticket to getting grounded for an entire month. Nightlight had to admit the gryphoness was not something he was used to at all as she was much more aggressive than other foals and had a fondness for eating meat.
Dusk Shine was mostly out here because his mother wanted him to be and was just trying to avoid getting whacked with a stick. With a look around Nightlight sat down on a nearby chair and just watched his kids play for most of the day, that was until Gleaming finally noticed him and roped him into their games. By the time the sun was setting Nightlight and all of his kids were thoroughly exhausted. He slept soundly that night, completely forgetting what his wife had planned in the upcoming days...
When the day of the big test arrived Nightlight could only pace nervously about the room as he watched his child go through the test with a bow tied to their head. It made them look and sound like a filly their age as long as it was on and Nightlight just knew that this was going to blow up in their faces. The written part of the test was easy, but the judges were starting to get wise to them as one passing by parent mentioned that they thought Gleaming was their only daughter. The practical part of the exam was taking forever and he was just waiting for that bow to get tugged off by something.
The dragon egg was finally wheeled in as the final part of the test, a common practice to see how the foal would deal with failure and to see how much magic they had at their disposal. Their child going under the alias of Twilight was busy pouring magic into the egg and looking frustrated as the egg refused to even give any indication that magic was being pumped into it. The unicorn sunk their head down in a pout as they admitted defeat, giving Nightlight a chance to calm down a bit, well before the blast hit that was.
A polychromatic shock wave rocked the city as alarms went up all over the place signaling an attack of some sort. Then their child lit up like a firecracker as waves of raw magic lashed out from them striking things and causing random effects. Bubbles of flux could be seen coming off the mana bolts as they lashed out turning the judges into potted plants and shattering the egg revealing a young dragon within it. The bursts continued on for what felt like an eternity as Nightlight hunkered underneath a seat to avoid getting tagged by an errant blast of magic.
When the magic calmed down Nightlight stood up to be faced with somepony he was hoping to not meet today, Princess Celestia herself was chatting with their child not seemingly seeing through the flimsy illusion spell they were wearing.
“Ah you must be Nightlight and that must be Twilight Velvet, so nice to make your acquaintances. I was just talking with your daughter here about how I will be taking her on as my personal student for the foreseeable future as such shows of magic are quite rare.”
“Y-your personal student mam? I mean your highness.” Nightlight stuttered.
“Just Celestia is fine, and yes my personal student speaking of which I should let you know that I will be putting a detect life spell on your daughter while she is under my tutelage. It helps me know where she's at and how she's doing, you can never be too careful after all. Are you alright Mr Nightlight you look rather pale?”
“I'm fine just fine, just a bit out of it after that blast you know, what was that by the way?”
“That was the Sonic Rainboom, a level three pegasus weapon meant for neutralizing large crowds or terrorizing small encampments, trust me when I say that we are already after the culprit. Now onto happier things, your lovely daughter will be catered by the royal staff and get all sorts of lovely benefits...” Whatever the princess said next was lost on the stallion as he could only think about how he was going to get executed for treason when the illusion was finally seen through, after all it was only a matter of time.
“Now all you need to do is have your wife sign these documents and we'll be all set... Are you paying attention to anything I'm saying right now?”
“What of course, I just need to talk with my wife about a couple of things once we get home, it's been a very busy day for us.”
“That's alright Mr. Nightlight I'll have everything sent to your home to look over, now I must be going my secretary is probably worried sick over my disappearance.” Celestia said before taking flight.
Needless to say Nightlight was an absolute wreck when he got home and his wife was also just short of panicking as well. Sure she had made the plan, but that was assuming Dusk was just going to get into the school, not get taught by Celestia herself... they were going to owe a lot of ponies a lot of favors after all of this was over Nightlight could just tell.
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Dusk Shine hummed as he went down the hall on one of his normal guard patrols while his sister Twilight was supposedly up in her tower. It hadn't gotten any easier to hide that she wasn't necessarily a real pony especially after he joined the guard and got settled into guard routines. Thankfully his fiance Sunset Shimmer was more than enough to help cover up for him with a charmed necklace that allowed her to fill in as Twilight when necessary, although that detect life spell made sure that they had to be careful when around Celestia. He of course had a special helmet that he wore that did the same thing after he retired that stupid ribbon.
It was a wonder that his cover hadn't been blown yet, but it turns out using a geas on all that know about it does wonders for keeping a lid on things. As Dusk Shine finished his patrol he went up into the tower that he called home where Spike was busy wrapping presents for a p[arty that someone named Moondancer had invited them to. Spike looked up at Dusk for a minute before getting back to the presents before looking back as he noticed the golden ring sitting proudly on Dusk's horn.
“Is that an engagement ring Dusk!? Did Moondancer finally propose?”
“Yes I'm engaged to Sunset my fillyfriend and... wait did you say Moondancer?”
“Uh... maybe. Oh boy maybe we shouldn't go to that party, I'll just send her a note saying we got sick or something and mail the presents to her...” Spike said as he tried to look somewhere else.
“We'll see about that later Spike but right now we need to go meet up with Sunset she said she had something important to share with both of us.”
“Do I have to, she's not particularly fond of me you know.”
“I know Spike but she's getting better about it, foals tend to freak her out a bit and you're no exception.”
“I guess...” The dragon grumbled as he jumped onto Dusks's back before they started to go through the winding halls of Canterlot castle.
The halls of the place were immaculately decorated with all of the finest tapestries the nobility wished to shower upon Celestia and more besides. Off to the right Dusk noticed a mare hastily closing a room blocking sight of a shrine dedicated to what most ponies considered to be the supreme ideal of pony society. The idol in question looked suspiciously like Celestia, but Dusk didn't pay much attention to that as he made his way to where Sunset usually liked to hide when she wasn't busy with her studies.
The spot they came to specifically was a nice shady patch of grass in the Canterlot gardens that was hidden from immediate view. Sunset as predicted was lounging in the shade leafing through a particularity thick black tome with jagged words that seemed to dance along the pages like ants. As soon As the two arrived she slammed the book shut and hid it in her saddlebag before smiling as she noticed who it was that had come to see her.
“Dusk, you're back so soon? I was expecting Spike to at least be a bit more belligerent about coming here.”
“He's not that bad Sunny, and what are you doing looking at dark magic out in the open? Remember the last time Celestia caught you with that kind of stuff?”
“This is a bit different Dusky, that is the beginner's guide to dark magic, Celestia is trusting me with advanced dark magic study if I pass a test of hers and that's the study material.”
“She's trusting you with dark magic? Celestia? The paragon of light magic in all of its aspects?”
“I was just as surprised as you until she mentioned I would have to devote just as much time to light magic study as well. Now while this whole topic is fascinating that's not why I called you and the gem muncher here, our little friend NW intercepted a letter from Celestia to Twilight and wishes to speak with you personally.”
Dusk snorted as he knew only one individual that went by those initials and it was the reclusive batpony Night Wing. The pony was elusive and flighty and had more than one conspiracy theory rattling around in their head at any given time, and by intercepting the letter Sunset likely meant that Celestia handed the yellow unicorn the letter that she then handed off to their freind. Knowing there was only one thing to do about this Dusk Shine strode off deeper into the hedge maze until he came face to face with a small statue of a filly eating a dandelion. A small tug of magic revealed a hastily dug hole underneath the carved facsimile of what Dusk assumed was meant to be a comical moment in time.
The two descended into the dirt hole in the ground, Spike involuntarily shivering as the statue covered the hole behind them. As they descended further into the ground Dusk found that the passage led farther underground than he remembered from his earlier interactions with the batpony. His questioning on that was silenced when he came into a large crystal filled cavern where a light gray batpony with a curly white mane was pacing around idly mumbling to herself.
All over the walls of the cavern were posters and leaflets detailing something or another with strings leading from one to a myriad of others. Looking closer at the wall revealed headlines detailing ponies in high society and some smaller interest groups. Then there was anything that had to deal with batponies at all in a massive stack on the far side of the cavern, pulling his eyes away from the organized madness Dusk decided to focus on who he was supposed to meet.
“Ponyville, why Ponyville?” The mare mumbled to herself only to let out a high pitched screech as the dragon sitting on Dusk's back poked her, “Mayday! The sun mare has come to wipe out the children of the night!... Oh hey Dusk it's just you.. he he... please forgive that little outburst I've been rather jumpy lately.”
“When are you not jumpy?” Spike replied while rolling his eyes.
“Never mind that! I have found the most profound piece of text in all of ponykind, a letter from princess Celestia herself asking her dear student to oversee a festivals preparation that is dedicated to her glory, and not just that but the one prophecies say is the fated return of the Nightmare!”
“While I enjoy our talks Night Wing what is it that you are trying to get at exactly?”
“Simple, this whole thing is a plan by Celestia to take down the Nightmare and cement her rule for at least another millennium, to this end we must make sure that the prophecy does not come true.”
“Night Wing, doesn't the story say the Nightmare want's to enshroud the entire world in an eternal night? You know as in no more sun to grow crops or warm the planet?”
“... Hm... I hadn't thought about that.” The bat pony said as they readjusted their glasses, “... Listen Dusk I know that you're going to go to this town because the princess ordered it but when the Nightmare returns please consider that maybe there's more to them than meets the eye.”
“Alright just for you Nighty I'll make sure that I'm not just kicking tail and asking questions later alright.”
“That's all I can ask Dusk, now you better go Sunset might start to suspect something if you linger too long down here.”
“Oh, I wouldn't worry about that freckles.” Sunset said as she emerged from a nearby shadow sending the batpony shooting into the tops of the cavern and screeching about something else.
“Did you really have to do that Sunny? Now Night Wing's never going to calm down.”
“I thought it would be funny, now go on and get to Ponyville, I'll hold down the fort here while you go and save the world.”
“I thought that was Gleaming's job?” Spike said innocently.
Sunset tried to hide a bit of a grimace at the mention of Dusk's older sister as she massaged one of her shoulders, mussing up the bits of fur that had grown in around a rather large set of scars there. Dusk noticed her sudden drop in mood and gave the mare in question a quick peck on the cheek before heading out of the cave and putting on their little disguise before anyone could notice anything. There was going to be a long day ahead of them but Dusk knew that he could handle anything that was put before him.
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Dusk was beginning to regret his earlier statement as he was being stared down by a very pink pony that he had just met after getting into town. She was looking the disguised stallion over quite thoroughly before looking over at the dragon currently sitting on his back and then back at him. This went on for a few more minutes until the mare seemingly got bored, smiled and put out her hoof.
“The name's Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's premier party pony and I like to great all of the new faces that come here, and you've got quite the face huh!? Now you see I looked over here and I was like oh a nice mare and then as I got closer I was like wait that's not a mare my eyesight must be going but nope! I know what I see when I see it! Don't worry your secret is safe with me, Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye!” The pony said as she made a bunch of exaggerated moves, “Now I must get going so many ponies to see and meet bye!” The pink mare said before bouncing off into the crowd as Dusk tried to register what she had just said.
“Spike?”
“D- Twilight killing her won't solve anything, just find her and use that geas thing.”
“Y-you're right we just have to find her... in one of the most packed places in Equestria at the moment while an ancient evil is probably about to awaken that we have no idea of how top actually stop.”
“Hey, at least she doesn't actually have any proof, not many ponies will believe her even if she did tell them, and didn't Night Wing tell you that something known as the elements of harmony were used the first time around”
“Right... Thank's Spike let's get this list finished and tie up that loose end with that pink mare when the festival dies down, she said she lives here so that makes things rather simple. We can ask around about the elements while we do our duties, now what was on that list for us to do again?”
“Let's see food, decorations, clear sky, and music. Which one do you want to tackle first?”
“Food seems appropriate, it's harder to fix than the rest if there's a mistake.”
Spike didn't respond as he was too lost in thought about what delectable dishes might be in his near future only to get shaken out of his stupor as Twilight gave him a stern look. The drake sheepishly read out the directions listed on the paper and soon found himself getting carried through the hustling and bustling streets of Ponyville during one of the most important holidays of the year, right after hearth's warming of course. The place they were heading was a farm by the name of Sweet Apple Acres and the name alone had Spike fantasizing about what sorts of apple treats he would get to try.
Dusk smiled a bit as the drake was at least looking forward to something during this festival, while Dusk knew the pink pony wasn't an immediate problem there was no stopping the thoughts that were rampaging through his head. His thoughts were thankfully interrupted when he came upon a farmstead that looked to be in pretty good condition outside of a few buildings that looked to be in the middle of getting renovated. As the disguised stallion trotted further into the orchard he could hear the dull thud of hooves striking wood followed by the sound of something hitting the ground.
The sound revealed itself to be an orange earth pony mare with freckles that sported a large worn out hat on her head. She looked a bit tired and was panting heavily as she readied to do another blow to the tree before the sound of someone clearing their throat caught her attention. The farmer immediately laid eyes on the purple unicorn and put on a grin that almost seemed to be a grimace as she walked up to them.
“Howdy there pardner, name's Applejack I do most of the work around here, I assume yer here ta talk with ma brother?”
“Actually we're just here to check on the preparations for the festival.”
“Really now? Which preparations ya talkin' bout cause mah brother has his own thing goin' on outside o' what the rest o' us are doin'.”
“We're here to check up on the food, we're the ones overseeing the festival as a whole to make sure everything is ready for the princess.” As soon as the words left the purple unicorns mouth Applejack seemed to realx a bit and put a more genuine smile on her face.
“Well then you nice folks have got ta meet tha' family then, they'd all love ta get yer opinion on their hard work an' ah can't rightly blame them. This whole festival is a big deal, it's not everyday that yer town gets to host the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“Well... we ind of have other ponies to check up on for the festival.”
“Nonsense it won't take but a minute o' yall's time honest.” The earth pony said as she ushered them closer to the house before ringing a bell that called out the rest of the family that was on the farm.
The whole introduction was a whirlwind of colorful ponies that all had apple in their name somewhere outside of a select few, not that there was enough time to actually remember any of their names. When the list got to the end she could hear her prattle off the names of both her little sister Applebloom who smiled at the disguised stallion with enough pure unfiltered cuteness that he was certain she was responsible for at least three deaths at this point. Then there was the elder of the family an elderly earth pony mare called Granny Smith who was busy taking a nap in the warm afternoon sun.
Curiously the only pony that didn't seem to get an introduction was this mare's mysterious brother that she had mentioned earlier, Big Mac if he was remembering correctly. It was very tempting to bring this up with the mare but a look from the little filly who was happily talking about them staying to taste the food derailed that train of thought by nearly providing another impromptu heart attack. Instead of staring down what was likely imminent death by cuteness Twilight began to eat some of the food only to be swept up by the rest of the family into a tasting that turned more into an unwilling stuffing. By the time Dusk got away from the farm he was feeling more than a little sick at his stomach from all the food while Spike trotted next to him while polishing off a plate of apple strudels.
“How can you stand to eat that much Spike?” Dusk groaned.
“Eh... my stomach burns most of what I eat and while nutritious none of this is all that filling.”
“I guess that's why you like gemstones so much, now who are we supposed to meet next?” Dusk said while trying to keep his lunch down.
“Hm... well we took care of catering so we have decorations, clouds, and music left to look into.”
“Well I can tell from right here that whoever is doing the clouds is slacking off.”
“Excuse me!? Slacking off I'll have you know that I can easily clear this sky faster than you can blink!” A raspy voice called from down the road.
The voice in question belonged to a pegasus that was so tiny they had to have been a filly, either that or her genetics were severely cruel to her. In fact she may have been shorter than Applebloom, but she had a fire in her eyes that brooked no argument and with a single flap of her wings she was right in front of the disguised stallion and staring them in the eyes. This close he could see the almost crimson coloration of her irises fade into a lighter hue, thankfully she backed up a bit before continuing to give him a dirty look.
“I'm sorry miss, but are you the one in charge of the weather?”
“Rainbow Dash is the name and yes I am old enough to be the captain of the weather team... and then some” she said under her breath.
“Right... I guess you get that a lot then... um...”
“Hi I'm Spike and that's Twilight, sorry about her but we're overlooking the summer Sun Celebration and noticed that the clouds weren't cleared yet.”
“So they're sending overseers now huh? About time somepony finally wised up and did something smart for once, now let's take care of the clouds then little guy.” The tiny cyan pegasus said as she took off from the ground and came back not two seconds later with the entire sky being free of clouds.
“...Woah... That was super fast!” Spike cheered.
“Don't mention it, now is your friend there going to do something or are they just going to stand there waiting for flies to land in their mouth?”
“S-sorry, I-I never thought it was possible to go that fast.” Twilight replied.
“Listen if I wanted my butt kissed I'd go to the mayor's office, but you're not so bad. Now if you'll excuse me I have some things of my own to prepare for the celebration.” The pegasus said as she trotted off down the streets and out of view.
“I-I guess that takes care of the sky... Now lets get to the decorations then since we're near the center of town anyways.”
The two made their way further into the center of the bustling festival doing their best to not accidentally knock somepony over. As they neared the place where the main event was to take place more and more imagery of Celestia became present with little balloons and cards bearing her likeness. It was a little tacky in Dusk's mind but it was at least a bit of a relief from the overabundance of imagery of the mare's cutiemark on everything else in the town at the moment.
When the two entered the inside of the town hall they were blown back by the sheer amount of intricate detail on display. Each ribbon practically detailed the solar alicorn doing something important in a series of comics while the larger decorations were all of an astronomical design. Suns and Moons were on display in every corner with the solar body practically encroaching on the lunar one in every depiction... Then there was the centerpiece, a large statue of Celestia that depicted her standing on top of a globe with the sun nestled between her wings and the moon curled into her tail, but before Dusk could look at anymore of the decorations his focus was drawn to his little brother.
“Beautiful...”
“I guess the decorations are kind of nice Spike.”
“Not the decorations her!” Spike said as he pointed out the sole unicorn at the end of the room.
She was a mare of standard height with a strikingly purple mane and a cutiemark of three diamonds. Her white fur was a little unkempt and wild looking while her mane was held back into a long elegant braid with only a few strands of hair sticking out of it. She wore a pair of red glasses perched on her snout and seemed to be inspecting the ribbons pretty closely.
“Ah! Tell me you two what do you think of these ribbons? Too gaudy, not enough curling?”
“Well I think they look fine miss...”
“Oh where are my manners, I'm Rarity Belle, local seamstress.”
“I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Spike we're here to check up on the decorations and it looks like everything is going really well.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, I'm a bit nervous after last year when Pinkie was in charge of the decorations. The poor dear nearly got banned from attending the festival ever again, not that I can blame the mayor for considering that decision, not after the centerpiece she put up.”
“Um... what was the centerpiece?”
“...Oh...Um... It wasn't anything too serious now have I seen you around before you look familiar!?” The mare said with a bit of panic in her eyes.
“I'm the princess' personal student I wouldn't be all too surprised if you've seen a likeness of me at some point.”
“Right... of course! Now if you'll excuse me I'm very busy.”
“Oh right sorry to take up your time Miss Rarity, now come on Spike we have one last thing to check on before the festival.” Twilight said, although whether or not the young drake actually heard them was another matter.
The two left the town hall and set off towards the outskirt of town, well it was more of Dusk going to the outskirts while dragging along a still infatuated Spike. By the time they had reached their destination the young drake had snapped out of their trance and was busy looking around for the mare they were supposed to meet, only for the light chorus of birdsong to great them. Following the music they came across a small hidden area next to some bushes that a yellow mare was at.
“Now Mr. canary you were just a little of pace, let's try again from the top.”
“Hello are you miss Fluttershy?”
“Eep!” The yellow mare said as they flew into a nearby bush the shear volume of their screech being enough to reach Canterlot.
“I'm sorry if I scared you but I'm here to check on the music and you did a really great job!” If the mare seemed to care about the praise it wasn't shown as the eyes in the bush trembled, “I'd better get going.” The disguised stallion said as they began to leave.
The yellow mare in the bush was on the verge of crying as they began to leave at least until she caught sight of Spike, then the mare was out of the bush and cooing over the baby dragon like she was his mother. This close to the pegasus Dusk was now able to tell that she was unusually tall for a pony, he didn't have a good estimate for her height but she might be able to look Celestia in the eyes... she was on the more slender side, possibly of Saddle Arabian descent then.
The small group made their way to the library that was reserved for them and the yellow pegasus just amicably chatted with Spike about everything that was on his mind. She seemed interested in Night Wing a bit and the entire journey to the library consisted of the nervous batpony's antics and other things they were known for.
As they entered the library it was unusually dark putting Dusk on edge especially after his encounter with the pink mare earlier that day. The lights suddenly flicked on with the words surprise getting shouted sending the yellow mare next to them in a fit of tears and hyperventilating that had Dusk scrambling to keep her from having a heart attack. Thankfully she calmed down and sat down in a corner somewhere with Spike to talk to.
Looking around the room the party was rather sorry looking, the whole thing looking more like a foals birthday party with very few ponies actually in attendance. In fact the only ponies that were really here were all the ones he had to check up on today, outside of the pink pony that was walking up to him, the dreaded miss Pie as he was referring to her as for the moment.
“Hi, I threw this party just for you! Do you like it!?”
“It's quaint I guess, Spike seems to like it at least.”
“You're not having fun are you...” The pony said almost visibly deflating, “Hooray another failed party.”
“It's not that bad and I appreciate the sentiment I guess, it's hard to enjoy a party when the hostess knows a secret about you that could get you publicly executed.” Dusk said so low he wasn't even sure the pink mare could hear him.
“Follow me to the back room and we can talk.” Pinkie said as she led him to a secluded area.
“I know you have no reason to trust me or my word, but I made a Pinkie promise not to tell anyone about your secret and breaking a promise is the fastest way to lose a friend forever.”
“Speaking from experience? Still why should I trust you to keep your word?”
“If it would make you feel better you can use that mind magic stuff on me, I just want to make you smile but I've done nothing but make you frown.”
“Fine, I believe you're sincere nopony would willingly go under a geas if they weren't serious now lets get to this party and have a little fun alright, I'm not the only one that needs some cheering up, we can discuss the geas later as that's a rather tricky piece of magic and not one I want others around for.”
Leaving the backroom Dusk spotted a couple of the ponies snickering to themselves and looking away from the pair, mostly Rarity and Applejack. Not wanting to let that little rumor spread too much more Twilight pointed to her horn ring and shook her head at Pinkie, hopefully getting the message across. The two mares seemed to get a sheepish smile at the information and Twilight just mingled with the ponies as the night continued to progress.
The party died down when the main bulk of the festivities outside seemed to roar to life, what few ponies that attended likely finding the draw of the celebration outside to be much more to their liking. Pinkie didn't force them to stay and just started cleaning everything up before heading out into the town herself. The mares that they had met earlier also took off, likely to make sure everything was ready for the big ceremony.
As Dusk went outside he could sense the excitement in the air, but it was tempered with a cold chill that hadn't left him since he went down into the caves earlier that day. As he looked up he could see the silvery pearl that was their moon still sporting the scar of a blackened alicorn on its surface, but looking up at it there was a malevolence that he couldn't quite place. With Spike safely asleep back home he trotted out into the fair to enjoy the amusements that were there, mostly silly games with caricatures of Celestia or stuffed toys bearing the pony's resemblance.
As Dusk trotted along he found himself drawn to a large tent with a large sign on top depicting a bunch of apples and what looked to be an image of some cider. Dusk shrugged and went inside feeling that a little liquid courage wouldn't hurt and as he walked inside he was met with a bunch of flashing lights and carnival games all under the same branding of FFM inc. The place was a wonderland if Dusk ever saw one and as he gawked at everything he ran into a large burly pony that sent Dusk sprawling to the floor.
“Oops, sorry mam. Let me help you up.”
“T-thank's I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.”
“The lights can do that to ya, names Big Mac by the way.”
“Twilight... Wait did you say Big Mac?”
“Eeyup, the one and only, why do ya ask?”
“I ran into your sister earlier today and she mentioned you.”
“... What's she been sayin' 'bout me?”
“Nothing, but she didn't seem too happy to mention you?”
“She a stubborn gal Twilight, and she don't rightly approve of the path I've taken or who my partners are... I just wish she would accept some of the bits I send her way so she could help out tha farm... But she's got ta do it her way I guess. Listen Ifn' ya see her again just tell her ah'm sorry and that ah only want what's best fer the folks back home.”
“Oh... is this a family feud thing?”
“No... just... just a difference in opinions that we but heads o'er. Now it was nice talkin' to ya miss Twilight but my little sideshow here ain't gonna' run itself.”
The disguised stallion merely nodded before leaving the tent ignoring all the flashy wonders inside for the less tense atmosphere of the night. Looking up showed that it was nearing the time for the ceremony to begin and as Dusk wandered over to the town hall he didn't notice the sudden loss of light up above as four stars slid next to the moon causing the surface to fester and writhe as a black sludge seemingly crawled across its surface hiding it from the rest of the sky.
“Ahem! Ladies and gentle colts, as the beloved mayor of this town it is my honor to introduce our beloved, our exalted, our (…), whose light banishes the darkness (…), May her face never age, and may her kingdom last eternally our ruler and matriarch, Princess Celestia!” The mare said tossing aside a stack of note cards that rivaled a dictionary in length.
On que the birds began to sing a lovely tune as the curtains drew away to reveal nothing behind them. The mayor was visibly shocked along with Rarity as the two began to look around to see if the had missed something only for a splotch of dark ooze to land on the stage. The drop undulated and moved wildly as a kaleidoscope of stars writhed within its mass garnering the attention of the mayor as she stepped closer to it. Gasps began to ring out as up above the moon was bleeding darkness with the foul sludge it was exuding forming rivulets of starry darkness that began to pool on the podium.
The sludge pulled itself upwards into a hunched over equine shape with a deformed body that slowly got taller as time passed. A horn ripped itself away from the creatures malformed skull seinging flecks of gooey ooze all over the balckony as skeletal wings began to form on the beasts back. As the creature became more solid a mouth ripped itself open on its face in a horrid gash bleeding black ooze from the wounds as gutteral noises began to escape its throat.
“Somepony, anypony what is that th-hnk!” The mayor shouted as they backpedalled away from the creature only for a black tendril to lash out of its body and cleanly impale the mayor's head.
“SiLeNcE... YoU SpEaK ToO MuCh...” The black pony shaped mass said to the lifeless corpse limply hanging from the spike protruding from it.
“P-please what are you, what do you want!?” Rarity stammered as she backpedaled only for the monstrous entity to be upon her before she could even scream, an outstretched hoof mere inches away from her.
“I Will not hurt... her... StOp StRuGgLiNg!” The creature bellowed before punting the white pony into the crowd down below.
“AlL WiLl BoW BeFoRe Us, YoUr TrEaTcHeRy WiLl Be PuNiShEd. YoUr SiNs ShAlL Be AtToNeD!” The beast howled with a rasping gurgle as multiple eyes began to open up all over its body.
“Seize it! Only it knows where the princess is being held!” A pegasus guard shouted as all of the guards capable of flight in the room charged the entity standing on the balcony.
“ChIcKeN...” The beast slurred as black tendrils shot out impaling each and every single guard before it began to chuckle darkly as smaller spikes shout out from inside of their bodies in random places until with a sickening crack they were burst like some demented water balloon raining blood and gore on the crowd below.
What was left of the crowd that hadn't already snuck out beforehand started to immediately panic and flee the building with the creature on the balcony letting out gurgling chuckles as more ooze dripped from the blackened moon onto the ground below. Then with a blood curdling howl it began to strike at random eviscerating ponies as they attempted to flee. Dusk saw a rainbow blur speed out of the town hall while holding a sobbing yellow bundle, Applejack was nowhere to be seen and Pinkie was also missing, both thankfully not part of the bodies that were starting to litter the area.
Once out onto the streets Dusk made a beeline for the library trying their best to ignore the pained screams from behind him as he barreled into the library. He began to frantically pull out any book that he thought could be useful even a cheesy book on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. Then without warning the hinges to the front door were ripped off as a cyan mare landed in the center of the room setting down a sobbing yellow pegasus.
“Hey, you're the princess' student right? Do you have any idea what the fuck that thing is out there!”
“R-rainbow l-language.” The yellow pony stammered out.
“Something called the Nightmare if I recall correctly, but only the elements of harmony were said to have beat it the first time!”
“Dammit! Pinkie should be here in a minute with Rarity to help, I think Applejack is also coming.”
“Why? What could we possibly do against that thing? You saw what it did to those guards back there and it only looked mildly amused.”
“We're getting these elements and killing that thing before it can cause even more damage.”
“But we don't even know where the elements are!”
Just then the door burst open with a pink pony carrying a white unicorn that was nursing a pretty bad black eye and looked to be missing more than one tooth. Applejack followed the two in not a minute later with three fillies following her that looked scared out of their minds. The orange earth pony wasted no time in bounding upstairs and getting Spike as well before opening up the door to the basement.
“Now Applebloom ah need ya ta take these fillies down to the storm shelter here alright and don't open tha' door unless one of us tells ya or it's an emergency.” The fillies could only nod as they descended the stairs leaving the upper floor eerily quiet.
“So, what's the plan here pardner?”
“Find a magical super weapon that we don't know the location of in order to defeat this thing before the world ends.”
“That bad huh?” Applejack said with a gulp.
“Well... I kinda had a Pinkie sense that something super duper bad would happen today so I came prepared with this! The great big book of magical super weapons from legends past and where we think they are today, a reference guide vol one through sixty.”
“That's oddly specific and useful.. anything about the elements of harmony in there?”
“Oh yeah volume fifty-five page sixty two paragraph four.”
“... I won't question how you know that right now as we have much more important matters to worry about right now. Let's see, ah here it is looks like they were last known to be used at castle Everfree? A location suspected to be located over a month's travel into the depths of the forest...”
“You're telling me that we have to go a month's journey into a monster infested forest while the world is ending! Fuck everything and it's mother why!?”
“Just be lucky it's not on the other side of the world, now... um... anyone know how to actually navigate the forest to find the castle?”
“I... I do.” A soft voice called out.
“Flutters' you don't have to do this, I know we're all a little upset right now but I don't want to see you getting hurt out there.”
“NO!... I mean no... Dash that monster killed my birds and so many ponies... I-If I can put an end to this I have to at least try. I know the forest really well and there's a zebra shaman who lives pretty far in, about two days journey into the forest that can help us even more.”
“... Fine but I'm keeping an eye out for you.”
“Ah'd better go home real quick ah doubt any of us is prepared fer that sort of journey with food or supplies, we'll reconvene outside of Flutter's place alright?”
“Wait all of you are coming, even Rarity?”
“That beast wrecked my perfect figure darling, and for that it must pay besides I can't look my best if everypony's dead, who will I impress then?”
“I'm going into the forest regardless of what I want so why not!” The p[ink pony carrying Rarity exclaimed.
“Ah may not be the best mare fer the job but ah got ta at least try fer my family.”
“I have my own reasons to be out there, and someone has to keep Flutters' safe.”
“I guess it's settled then.” Twilight said with a deep sigh as the group went off into the night to prepare for what was yet to come.
